PUENTES

October 23, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, host Emily Guerra meets with New Mexico State University Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders Department Head, Dr. Marlene Salas-Provance, and with SPED/CD Assistant Professor Dr. Breanna Sherrow whose area of expertise is in reading disabilities.

October 16, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, host Emily Guerra meets with Jardin de los Niños Executive Director Audrey Hartley and Jardin Board President Tony Montenegro. In Spanish, Jardin de los Niños, means the children’s garden. It is a non-profit organization serving homeless and near homeless children in Las Cruces for over 20 years. They recently received the “New Mexico Educational Non-Profit of the year by the Albuquerque Business First publication. Hartley said she is excited about receiving the award.

October 12, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Host-Emily Guerra meets with The Borderland Fridas Co-Founder Pamela Enriquez-Courts. Rather than having another “Day of the Dead” event this year, a small group of artists from Las Cruces, Anthony and El Paso, known as The Borderland Fridas, decided to create a new event and tradition with “La Llorona Festival.”

September 24, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Southwest Festival of the Written Word Co-Chair and Publicity Chair, Jeannie Miller. She has been involved with the Festival since its inception six years ago, and tells us why it is important for the community: “because, you know, readers need writers, and writers need readers. And a community if it doesn’t read, it’s lacking something.

September 12, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force Registered Nurse & Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Kimberly Smetzer, and Breastfeeding Counselor, Suzanne Staley, to bring awareness of the many benefits breastfeeding provides for your baby. One way is by working with hospitals and clinics to become “Baby Friendly Designated.” Smetzer says “Baby Friendly” is important for all moms.

September 4, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Department Head of Special Education and Communication Disorders at New Mexico State University, Dr. Marlene Salas-Provance. She says more educators are needed in our community to specialize in Special Education.

On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with local comic, writer and entrepreneur Jason Salas. His desire to sell his comic strip, “Perk at Work,” at last year’s 1st annual Las Cruces Comic Con led him to self-publishing.

On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with the Director of Holy Cross Retreat Center, Franciscan Friar Rev. Tom Smith, to talk to us about what is new at the center, as well as ancient traditions.

Nearly 800 hundred years ago in Italy, the founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars, St. Francis of Assisi became a saint. He is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment (The Ecology Saint); and is also the patron saint of the Holy Cross Retreat Center in Mesilla Park.

August 14, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Youth Services Administrator for the City of Las Cruces Parks & Recreation Department, Robert Nuñez. He has been working with local youth at CLC Parks & Recreation for 16 years and is excited about the new Youth Services Campus in the Historic Mesquite District of Las Cruces. The campus will offer Summer Recreation, Safe Haven-Weed and Seed, the After School Program, and the Juvenile Citation Program.

August 7, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with New Mexico State University’s Creative Media Institute (CMI) Department Head, Amy Lanasa, and CMI Adjunct Professor, Algernon D’Ammassa, theatrical actor and producer. CMI prepares students for the 21st century in Digital Filmmaking and Animation & Visual Effects, as well as game design. Last year “Animation Career Review” ranked CMI as one of the top 10 animation and game design schools in the Southwest.

June 26, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES a la comunidad, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Storytellers of Las Cruces members: Douglas Jackson, Loni Todoroki and Grits Wrangler to talk to us about one of the oldest forms of communication, storytelling.

June 19, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES a la comunidad, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Las Cruces Fire Department (LCFD) Battalion Chief Kristen Andersen and Fire Chief Travis Brown. The LCFD recently broke ground for Fire Station #8 at the East Mesa Public Safety Complex and will soon be recruiting to fill thirteen new positions.

June 12, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Doña Ana Arts Council Executive Director, Kathleen Albers, and Casa de Peregrinos Executive Director, Lorenzo Alba, to talk about a unique collaboration between the two different organizations; the arts education programs and an emergency food program.

June 5, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Doña Ana PLACE MATTERS Coordinator, Kari Bachman, to talk to us about the concerns of Chaparral, a Southern New Mexico community.

May 29, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with Naturopathic Physician, Jacqueline Villalobos, originally from El Paso, Texas, now living in La Mesa, New Mexico. She is returning to the Southwest after living in Oregon for 20 years and is here to bring awareness of naturopathic medicine to our communities. Naturopathy is a form of alternative medicine using a wide array of “natural” treatments. [A note of warning, this interview is a look at alternative medicine and is not intended to be medical advice.]

May 22, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, Emily Guerra meets with Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Senior Medicare Executives, Lia Castagna and Sophia Shepherd; and Community Outreach Representative, Alex Andrews. They talk to us about the healthcare needs in New Mexico and misperceptions with health insurance and Medicare.

May 15, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges the community, Emily Guerra meets with Executive Director of the Doña Ana County Humane Society (DACHC), Kathy Lawitz, to talk about some of the services they offer the community in a coordinated effort to reduce animal overpopulation and abuse in the county; with programs such as, Animal Relief Fund (ARF) which offers aid to low-income pet owners whose pets have medical emergencies; Pets for Seniors; and Ruff-To-Ready – a free training program for owners of locally adopted dogs to show dog owners how to correct their pet

May 1, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with Coalition for Pets and People, out-going Co-Chair, Tom Townsend, and Coalition Member, Emile Bourdet, to talk to us about micro-chipping and sterilizing your dogs and cats.

April 25, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with (MPO) Mesilla Valley Planning Organization Officer, Tom Murphy; and MPO Board Chair and Mesilla Trustee, Linda Flores, to talk about regional transportation planning. The MPO is responsible for planning all aspects of the transportation system in Las Cruces, Mesilla and Doña Ana County. Every five years residents from these communities are called upon to provide public input into transportation plans.

April 17, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with First Light Federal Credit Union’s Community Marketing Coordinator, Savonne Griffin, and Financial Planner, Erik Jaime, to talk about financial responsibility.

The banking and mortgage industry have many acronyms we use daily, for example: ATM (automated teller machine); PIN (personal identification number); and FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation, the creators of the FICO score). In this interview both Griffin and Jaime describe a FICO score and how it affects our credit.

April 10, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with a mother and her daughter, both diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). From Los Alamos, New Mexico, Debra Snow has been living with MS for eighteen years; her daughter, Jackie Becker resides in Las Cruces and has learned to live with her disease since her diagnosis in 2011. Although MS is not considered a hereditary disease, Snow has four other members of her family with MS, including her daughter.

April 3, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with Tres Manos Weaving of New Mexico Executive Director, Teresa Guerra. The art of hand woven fabrics has been around for over 13,000 years. In 2002, this craft was brought to Doña Ana County as a rural economic development project of Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico. The first training center for Tres Manos began in San Miguel, New Mexico to help low-income women from the Colonias learn new skills to increase their family income.

March 27, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Outdoor Recreation Planner, McKinney Briske, and DOI/VISTA AmeriCorps Volunteer, Eileen Davis. They are working with Doña Ana Groundworks to hire Youth Rangers that will lead outreach programs throughout BLM sites in New Mexico such as Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, and other partner sites such as Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park and White Sands National Monument.

March 20, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with the President of General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) Progress Club of Las Cruces, Valerie Redington; and GFWC Progress Club Centennial Committee Chair, Rebecca Courtney. This year the club celebrates 100th Anniversary of service to our community. Their motto is “Living the Volunteer Spirit.”

March 13, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with the Chair of the Las Cruces/Lerdo Sister Cities Committee, Hale Huber. Nearly 60 years ago, “Sister Cities International” was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote world peace and positive international relations. Sister Cities are intended to unite citizens of both countries to develop friendship and international understanding through business, cultural and educational exchanges.

February 27, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, Emily Guerra bridges the community with two accomplished artists from the Las Cruces area, Randy Granger, celebrated musician and songwriter; and Algernon D’Ammassa, theatrical actor and producer. They collaborate with storytelling and music for the return of “An Iliad,” in two performances at the Black Box Theater in Las Cruces on Saturday, February 28th at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee on March 1st at 2:30 p.m.